Nagasaki Mayor Killed; Gangster Confesses to Shooting (Update4)

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Itcho Ito, mayor of Nagasaki, Japan, died today after being shot twice by a member of an organized crime gang, police said.

Ito, 61, was shot yesterday by Tetsuya Shiroo a member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime syndicate, Nagasaki police spokesman Toshiyuki Kanzaki said. Shiroo, 59, was arrested last night and admitted to shooting Ito, Kanzaki said. He has been charged with murder and police are investigating his motive.

Ito, who was running for his fourth term, died at 2:28 a.m. at the Nagasaki University Hospital of Medicine and Dentistry after being shot in the back outside of Nagasaki's train station last night. He is the second mayor of the city to be shot, following the 1990 attack on predecessor Hitoshi Motoshima for saying Emperor Hirohito bore responsibility for World War II.

The assassination ``is a challenge to democracy, and cannot be forgiven,'' Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters today. ``We must be determined to eradicate this kind of violence.''

Shiroo, a member of the Suishin-kai gang, was upset because he was unable to collect insurance from an automobile accident four years ago after the city ruled he ran into a ditch despite a warning sign, NHK television reported, citing unidentified police officials. He was also unhappy because a construction company he worked with didn't get city contracts, NHK said.

`Regrettable'

``This is really sad and regrettable for Nagasaki and Japan,'' former mayor Motoshima told NHK. ``No matter what the reason might be, violence shouldn't be tolerated.''

Nagasaki police searched Shiroo's house this morning, police spokesman Yukitoshi Yamaguchi said.

Shiroo sought compensation for damage to his car fender from a cave-in at a construction site on a city road in 2003, Kyodo News reported, citing unidentified Nagasaki officials. The city tried to arbitrate the dispute, then broke off negotiations in January 2005 as Shiroo increased his demands, Kyodo said. Shiroo went to city hall more than 30 times to complain.

Like Motoshima, Ito campaigned for nuclear disarmament. Nagasaki was devastated when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after Hiroshima was hit by a similar device and six days before Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Ito gave a speech calling for the abolishment of all nuclear weapons at the International Court of Justice in the Hague on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

Son-In-Law

Ito's son-in-law, Makoto Yokoo, announced today at a press conference in Nagasaki that he will run in the April 22 mayoral election. Yokoo, 40, is the husband of Ito's eldest daughter and is a reporter for the regional Nishinippon newspaper.

Ito is survived by his wife and three daughters, city spokeswoman Yuka Tsuda said.

Nagasaki, a city with a population of about 450,000, is on the island of Kyushu, 969 kilometers (602 miles) west-southwest of Tokyo.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kiyori Ueno in Tokyo at Mshiraki1@bloomberg.netSachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Brinsley in Tokyo at jbrinsley@bloomberg.net.